Randolph’s Thoughts:

Jeff and Katie took on an enormous task of planning their wedding in Canada from overseas in the UK . I had randomly met both of them watching ice hockey in London in 2004 and I’ve been great friends with them ever since. When they asked me to be their photographer and shoot their wedding in Canada I jumped at the opportunity to do a destination wedding. I loved shooting this wedding, they decided to choose my alma mater for their venue so it was great to photograph their wedding in the same places where I learned to shoot. A big congratulations go out to Jeff and Katie.

DETAILS

Name of bride – Katherine

Name of groom – Jeff

Date of wedding – August 19^th 2008

Place of ceremony – London, Ontario. Canada

Place of reception – Windemere House

Time of day – 4pm

HOW YOU MET

How and where did you meet? At University.

Who proposed and what happened? – He proposed while on holiday in Key West Florida. It was completely unplanned and unexpected!

THEME

What was your wedding theme? – Classic – black and white.

Describe some of the style details. – Simple and formal

Were there any special touches that really helped theme the day? Wedding party in simple formal dress – colours were black and white.

Did you choose particular decorations, favors and table centers? Centrepieces were flower arrangements using locally sourced, in season flowers (featuring fall colours), flavors were small silver frames (they doubled name plates)

What music did you have? During the ceremony we had a trumpeter and pianist who played before during and after the ceremony. They also played during the cocktail reception we hosted immediately after the ceremony concluded. Later, the wedding party was welcomed into the reception hall by bagpipes.

THE BRIDE

What did you wear? Where did you get your dress?

Cream wedding gown – Simple A-line and strapless. Dress was sourced from a private boutique in South Florida.

THE GROOM

What did he wear? Where did he buy/hire from?

Simple black tuxedo. It was hired from a local vender in London, Ontario.

BRIDESMAIDS & ATTENDANTS

What attendants did you have and what did they wear?

The attendants wore the same simple black tuxedo as was worn by the groom. The bridesmaids wore black, knee length, strapless dresses.

THE CAKE

Who made it?

Our cake had four tiers with white icing. On one side of the cake the icing was smooth, the other side, the icing featured a simple design. The centre of the cake was dressed with a black ribbon that ran from top to bottom (diving the two differently designed sides)

The cake was sourced from a local baker in London Ontario (who ran their business out of their home)

FLOWERS

Describe your bouquet, the bridesmaids’ and the flowers at the venue.

All of our flowers were locally sourced – using flowers that were in-season. Colours were ‘fall’ like – i.e. res, yellows, and oranges. The bridal and bridesmaids bouquets were of the same design. However, the bouquets for the bride and maid of honor were a bit larger than the rest. All bouquest were simple, with the stems wrapped in white ribbon.

FIRST DANCE

What did you dance to? A song written and performed by a close friend’s band.

What time did the reception end? Around 1am (then it continued in the hotel portion of the venue)

Where did you spend the first night? At a hotel situated in ‘downtown’ London. Our wedding and reception took place at a hotel – however, we chose to spend our first night at a separate hotel away from our wedding guests.

SPECIAL MOMENTS

What was the most memorable moment from your wedding day?

There are two memorable moments:

Firstly, immediately after the marriage ceremony completed and my husband and I walked back up the aisle, we had a brief moment together in order to collect ourselves before we were due to greet and thank all of our gests – we just looked at each other and were like ‘were married’ – that’s when it hit us both!

The second moment was towards the end of the night when most of our guests had left for bed and we were left behind with just our wedding party. Having a wedding in Canada was special since living abroad it had been many years since we had all been together as a group. It was the first time my husband and I were able to really sit back and relax and share some time with our closest friends.

Is there anything you would have done differently?

No, I’m happy with how it all went.

WHAT YOU LEARNED

What piece of advice would you give others planning a wedding?

Don’t get too caught up in the planning – have fun and don’t agonize over every detail. Go with your first instinct on all decisions – in the end the moments you had with your new husband, family and friends will be more meaningful than the fact that you had yellow flowers.Remember to savor the day as it goes by so quickly. Take a few moments to really take it all in.

Is there anything you could not have lived without during the lead-up to your wedding?

My wedding book – just a file folder including all suppliers invoices / receipts, etc.

HONEYMOON

Describe what you did/have planned for the honeymoon

After our wedding in Canada, we went to Egypt for two weeks in the sun. We chose an all-inclusive resort holiday – which was ideal, as all we wanted to do was relax. As in three weeks we had travelled from London to Toronto back to England then onto Egypt. The break was much needed.

About the Author: Randolph Quan is a UK based wedding photojournalist. You can follow Randolph on Twitter or check out his wedding photography here.